Teamsters president faces backlash over ‘unconscionable’ GOP convention speech

The Teamsters International president, Sean O’Brien, has been accused by senior members of the union of disgracing it by agreeing to an unprecedented appearance at next week’s Republican national convention.

O’Brien’s decision was branded “unconscionable” by John Palmer, vice-president at large at the Teamsters, who accused him of lending support to the “most anti-union party and president” in a generation.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, Palmer urged members of the union to demand that O’Brien cancel his planned appearance. The Teamsters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Teamsters is one of the largest labor unions in the US, with 1.3 million members. While other large labor unions and the largest coalition of labor unions, the AFL-CIO, have already endorsed Joe Biden, the Teamsters has yet to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election.

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The Republican convention is set to begin on Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. O’Brien’s scheduled appearance has drawn criticism from both leaders and members within the Teamsters, and anti-union groups.

The Center for Union Facts, an organization founded by staunch union opponent and lobbyist Rick Berman, has paid for billboards in the Milwaukee area accusing the Teamsters of being a partisan group due to the union’s political action committee (Pac) predominantly supporting Democratic politicians.

O’Brien’s speech at the RNC will be the first time a Teamsters president has spoken at the convention. In January 2024, the Teamsters Pac donated $45,000 to both the Democratic and Republican national committees, marking its first large donation to the Republican party in years.

Earlier this year James Curbeam, national chairman of the Teamsters National Black caucus, warned members that Trump was a “scab masquerading as a pro-union advocate” in a letter, reported by the New York Times, responding to O’Brien’s meeting with the former president.

As O’Brien prepares to speak in Milwaukee, Palmer sounded the alarm.

“A speaking engagement at the Republican national convention by Teamster president Sean O’Brien, regardless of the message, only normalizes and makes the most anti-union party and president I’ve seen in my lifetime seem palatable,” he wrote in his letter, outlining anti-union policies being pushed by Trump and the Republican party.

Palmer pointed to the recent supreme court decision overturning the Chevron decision which paves the way for corporate challenges to rules meant to protect workers, and cited the open opposition to union drives from Republican leaders.

“It is unconscionable for any labor leader to lend an air of legitimacy to a candidate and a political party, neither of which can be said to have done, or can be expected to do, anything to improve the lives of the workers we are pledged to represent,” he added. “The Teamsters conducted a poll of which the majority of members chose not to support Donald Trump.

“Members should demand that president O’Brien not participate in the Republican convention, nor allow himself to disgrace this union by creating the false impression that Teamsters members support Trump and all he stands for.”